After the Shimano MTB Grand Prix cross-country mountain bike race earlier this month, the Rocky Trail crew with Event Managers Jo Parker and Bob Morris were hosting the second racing weekend in a row on the Gold Coast. The action started with close to 250 secondary students from 29 schools competing in the Gold Coast Schools Comp on the Friday as part of the “Rocky Trail Academy” junior development programme. The weekend of 24+25 July then had gravity racers clock in time runs on three race tracks with the Fox Superflow®, Rocky Trail’s growing gravity enduro event.
The events had been secured by Major Events Gold Coast and were endorsed by the Gold Coast MTB club as well as Nerang State High School. About the Rocky Trail Academy schools event Race Director Bob Morris said that it had put the amazing junior talent that is being reared in South East Queensland on display,
“It was such an exciting atmosphere and it was so rewarding to see the passion and commitment by students as well as teachers, parents and supporters on the day! Congratulations to Iona College for taking out this year’s Rocky Trail Academy Gold Coast Schools Champion Award."
Record field of schools at Nerang for Rocky Trail Academy
A record-breaking field of close to 250 secondary school students put their MTB abilities to the test in the “Gold Coast Edition” of the Rocky Trail Academy schools event on the Friday. In the boys it was Year 9-10 rider Thomas Waites from Ambrose Treacy College who was the fastest racer of the day, completing the three race tracks in 12:45.7. In second outright was Senior Racer Ethan Gray (13:46.2) from Palm Beach Currumbin SHS and in third overall was Nicholas Nelson (Y9-10) from Coombabah State High School.
In the girls, Year 9-10 racer Alexandra Larsson from Stuartholme School took out the line-honours in 16:52.2 ahead of Year 7-8 racer Chloe Moon (18:54.6) from Ormiston College and Olivia Kane (19:24.2) from Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar School.
Fox Superflow® kicks off South QLD Series at Nerang
The first round of the Fox Superflow® sealed by Stan’s QLD South Series went down on the Nerang MTB Trail on the Gold Coast on the weekend! Rory McKenzie from Mt Cotton took out the outright win with a total race time of 10:37.5 and opened the series account for the Elite Men. Bryce Stirling (10:43.4) came in second overall and in the Elite Men and in third outright was U19’s racer Darcy Harris (11:03.0).
The fastest woman on an acoustic bike was the U17’s racer Isabella St Pierre from Mount Nathan with a race time of 13:58.8. She won the women’s classification outright ahead of Hayley Parsons (U19) who finished with 14:25.4 and fellow U17’s racer Bella Major (15:32.6).
Says Major Events Gold Coast quote CEO Jan McCormick, “Major Events Gold Coast is thrilled to be supporting two leading racing events that are coming to the Gold Coast this July. The Gold Coast has such a wide variety of venues and open spaces suitable for such a broad range of sporting events. It’s fantastic to see two incredible outdoor sporting venues, the Hinze Dam MTB Trails in Advancetown and the Nerang National Park, being used for these two incredible events as more than 500 competitors competed across multiple races and categories.”
